People have enjoyed birds as pets for centuries. Birds that could mimic human speech or "talk" have been the most prized as pets. Being able to train a bird to talk not only allows it to be more enjoyable as a pet but also increases its monetary value significantly.
For a bird to learn to talk it must be exposed to human speech. While a very small number of very talented birds can learn to talk from being exposed to normal conversation not directed at the bird, most need direct and numerous repetitions of the phase to be learned. In most cases this direct training involves someone standing at the cage repeating the same phrase over and over. Training the bird to speak even a single phrase can take hours of repetition over a several week period, if the bird will learn to speak at all. A need exists for a device to train a bird with minimal human effort.
One example for such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,847,120 to Hicks entitled "Bird Training Device." The Hicks device uses a magnetic tape playback device attached to a mechanical switch. The switch is in the form of a perch in front of a mirror. The bird, being attracted by its image in the mirror, is supposed to alight on the perch and by its weight flip the switch and activate the tape. The tape, in the form of an endless loop, repeats as long as and as often a the birds weight is on the perch.
The Hicks device, therefore, relies upon the bird itself to activate the training mechanism. If the bird never lands on the perch or, even more likely, is frightened by the voice right next to it when it does land on the perch and flies away, the whole purpose of the device is thwarted. Without the bird choosing to land on the perch no training ever takes place. Also, even if the bird can be taught to land on the perch on a regular basis the Hicks device contains no method of changing the message on the magnetic tape. External machinery would be required to provide different messages for the bird.
Another similar device, this time for tending and herding cows, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,137,271 to Etter entitled "Means and Method for Tending Domestic Animals." The Etter device uses the same magnetic tape playback means as found in Hicks, but is activated at specific times of the day by a clock mechanism, for example at dawn to tell the cows to come and be milked. The Etter device suffers from the same problem as the Hicks device in that the message can only be changed by external means. Also the Hicks device, though initiated by a clock mechanism, is designed to repeat the message at certain times of the day, it is not designed to repeat the message the specific controllable intervals optimal for training a bird.
A need exists for a device that can be attached to a bird cage and repeat messages to a bird at regular controllable intervals regardless of the birds actions. Such a device must contain a means for changing or recording new messages without the need for external machinery.